The Crusaders
by Darkangel546
Summary: A Khajjit thief has been targetted by Orvas Dren and the Camonna Tong...yeah. Chapter 3 added.
1. The Beginning

The Crusaders  
  
Disclaimer:  
  
I don't own Morrowind, (duh) the only thing I own is a few original characters. If you've played the game you should know which ones.  
  
Introduction:  
  
This is my first fanfictiction and is about one of my favourite games, Morrowind.  
  
Here's a little bit of important info about one of the main characters of my story:  
  
The Cammona Tong is a kind of Morrowind based mafia and enemy of the Thieves guild.  
  
Orvas Dren is the leader of this organisation; he lives on the plantation of the same name and is the brother of Vedam Dren, duke of Morrowind.  
  
Note: "Means that the character is speaking and ' means that they are thinking.  
  
Chapter 1: The Beginning  
  
Some basic information you may need if you are reading this fanfiction:  
  
The Cammona Tong is a kind of Morrowind based mafia and enemy of the Thieves guild.  
  
Orvas Dren is the leader of this organisation; he lives on the plantation of the same name and is the brother of Vedam Dren, duke of Morrowind.  
  
Morndas the 12th of First Seed 3E 299 5.30 PM  
  
Lightning streaked the sky as a tall Dunmer male walked through the grounds toward Dren Manor; his hair was pulled into a red Mohawk, a popular style with his race. At his side hung a Dwemer Battle Axe, just within his reach in case he needed it. Orvas could be rather unpredictable and might just attack him when he heard the news that he was bearing.  
  
As he passed a Khajjit slave he pushed her roughly onto the ground. "What did the elf do that for?" He stopped in his tracks.  
  
"I don't like cats! And next time you speak when not asked I will be forced to punish you." He said in a low, menacing voice.  
  
He ran his gnarled, dark hand over his axe and the Khajjit flinched at the sight of the weapon. The Dunmer shook his head despairingly,  
  
'That cat has an attitude. I'd better report him.' A smile came across his face as he thought of the beating the slave would most likely receive.  
  
As he stood outside Orvas' office he heard the boss talking to someone.  
  
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Came his muffled voice.  
  
The Dunmer didn't hear a reply but apparently Orvas did as he spoke again.  
  
"If I do this will you leave me alone? Very well...I'll do it."  
  
When the Dunmer was sure he'd finished talking he reached up and knocked on the door.  
  
"Enter."  
  
As he walked through the door he glanced around the room.  
  
'That's strange, there's no-one else here besides Orvas...oh well, there must be a trap door or something in here.'  
  
He glanced longingly at the Daedric greaves that were carelessly resting on the shelf behind Orvas.  
  
Apparently his leader noticed where his gaze rested as he coughed.  
  
"S-Sorry. I was just admiring your armour collection."  
  
The Cammona Tong leader gave the Dunmer an icy stare.  
  
"So Thanelan, how did your slave hunting go?"  
  
"Well...we got 6 Argonians and 1 Khajjit"  
  
"That's not bad. But your expression says that you've got more to tell me."  
  
Thanelan looked up at the Huge Dunmer standing before him, his orcish armour shining brightly and his ebony spear in it's scabbard which was hidden by his shirt.  
  
'Shit. It's now or never I suppose.'  
  
"Erm...HE showed up. All 7 slaves were freed...I was the only survivor."  
  
He was referring to a Khajjit named Kai who used to be a slave at the plantation but recently escaped and now works at night to liberate slaves all over the land.  
  
Orvas looked at his ceiling, an angry look on his face.  
  
'We've been having a lot of problems with him. Last week he freed 5 of my slaves. One of them was very valuable and I'd just had a 5000 gold bid for him. I must have him killed.'  
  
"Very well, Thanelan you're free to go. But don't expect payment for this little expedition."  
  
Thanelan nodded and turned to leave.  
  
'Phew, that went very well for a meeting with Orvas.'  
  
An evil smile crept across the Dunmer's face as he thought of what he had in store for his boss.  
  
'I must bide my time then I can attack when he least expects it and take over as leader of the Cammona Tong.' Thanelan thought eagerly of the power he would have over his fellow Dunmer when his Axe tasted Orvas' blood.  
  
4 Days later  
  
Kai sat at a table in the Balmora Tavern of Eight Plates, a bottle of flin laid in front of him. Also seated with him were a few friends from the thieves' guild.  
  
Sugar lips Habasi, a high ranked female Khajjit turned to him. She'd had a few too many drinks and her expression showed it.  
  
"I want to make a toasht to my friend Kai. He's one hell of a guy and I want to kissh his pretty face."  
  
Kai smiled and leant across the table to kiss the Khajjit thief. As soon as she felt his lips against hers her eyes widened and she fell sideways off her chair in surprise. She landed on her ass and began to laugh. Sottilde, a female nord and member of the thieves' guild lifted her glass to her lips in an attempt to stifle her laughter. The male khajjit smiled and turned away pretending he hadn't noticed. He had known for a long time that Habasi liked him but he wasn't sure if he wanted a relationship at the moment.  
  
'It probably wasn't the best idea to kiss her. I don't want to give her the wrong impression.'  
  
He glanced over at the head of the Balmora thieves guild as she tried to climb to her feet but just fell over again; her eyes were watering with laughter.  
  
'But then again...chances are she won't remember anything that happens tonight anyway.'  
  
A Dunmer sat across the room, his face hidden behind his chitin helmet; he stared at the party from the corner paying special attention to Kai. When he saw the Khajjit get up to order some drinks he took that as his cue and stood up as well.  
  
After Kai had ordered his drink the Dark Elf bumped into him and caught the tray in his right hand.  
  
He smiled behind his mask as he discreetly dropped some powder into one of the drinks before lifting up his own.  
  
"I'm sorry. Hail friend, it's Dunmer custom to drink one pint together after an apology."  
  
This was a lie but he needed to make sure Kai took the right glass.  
  
The Khajjit picked up the poisoned drink and after a quick toast he drunk it in five seconds.  
  
The Khajjit approached his friends and dropped 200 septims on the table along with the other drinks. He leant forward and whispered,  
  
"Don't drink them. They may be poisoned. I'll explain everything tomorrow when I can be sure we're alone...and you may want to leave now."  
  
His friends stared at him before nodding in unison. No matter who you were if Kai gave you an order you listened.  
  
Kai turned and walked through the door just as the would-be-assassin slumped forwards onto the table; his half-finished drink smashed on the ground and the brown liquid bubbled as it seeped out over the cold, stone floor.  
  
The Khajjit smiled as he thought of his quick switching spell.  
  
'I am so glad I mastered the art of Illusion magic.'  
  
He failed to notice a dark shape leaping across the rooftops, watching his movements carefully.  
  
So there you go if you like it please review. Thanks :)  
  
If anyone knows in what year the game was supposed to begin please let me know and I'll edit the date at the start. 


	2. Escape

Chapter 2: Escape  
  
Disclaimer: If for some reason you care about this please refer to the first chapter.  
  
My first review. Yay! Erm chapter 1 has been edited slightly. :)  
  
Fredas the 16th of First Seed 3E 299 11.30 PM  
  
As Kai walked through the streets he was convinced that someone was watching him but he just shrugged it off.  
  
'I'm being paranoid. That assassin wasn't the most competent I've ever seen, he was probably just an angry Dunmer who'd had a bit too much to drink and didn't like seeing a Khajjit roaming free.'  
  
When he walked past the Balmora Council club, local hangout of the Cammona Tong he saw two Dunmer. They looked at each other and just stared at the Khajjit as he walked past.  
  
As soon as Kai was out of earshot the shorter of the two leant over and whispered,  
  
"Shouldn't we have attacked him or something?"  
  
The other Dunmer glared at his partner,  
  
"I was given strict orders from Dren himself. We've got to ignore him; I think the boss want's his death to look like an attack from the Morag Tong or something. Doesn't want the entire thieves guild coming down on him at once, you know?"  
  
Kai couldn't sleep. He'd been laying in his bed for over an hour thinking about his attempted assassination.  
  
'The only people I can think of who'd want me dead are...' "The Cammona Tong!"  
  
'But why didn't those two members I just passed in the street attack me?'  
  
This just confused him and eventually he closed his eyes and drifted into a sleep inhabited by nightmares.  
  
Whilst he slept he felt a hand cover his mouth, he woke with a jump and stared at his attacker.  
  
He was a Dark Elf of average height clad in full netch Leather armour with a black veil covering the bottom half of his face. His bright red eyes were wide as he attempted to choke the Khajjit with a pillow.  
  
Kai reached under his mattress and pulled out an iron Longsword which he swung blindly and slashed his attacker's left arm.  
  
The assassin dropped the pillow and staggered backwards in pain. The khajjit let out a sigh of relief due to being able to breathe again.  
  
He jumped to his feet and swung his longsword but the Dunmer was ready for this and rose his shield, deflecting the blow and making Kai leave his chest open to attack.  
  
The assassin dived forward and thrust his steel sword towards his target but Kai ducked under the blade and kneed him in the stomach causing him to double over. He took this as his chance and bought his weapon down, beheading the Dunmer.  
  
After taking his weapon and a handful of gold that he was carrying he threw the body into a closet and climbed into bed.  
  
'I'll deal with his corpse tomorrow.'  
  
The next day Kai stood on the bottom floor of the South Wall cornerclub telling his friend, a wood elf named Arathor about the attack whilst Sugar lips sat at the bar staring at him. Her cooked hound meat sitting beside her filling the room with a wonderful aroma and covering up the sweet smell of Moon Sugar coming from behind the bar. She turned to Sottilde, a tall Nordic woman with short brown hair and a green robe.  
  
"Can I talk to you for a second?"  
  
Sottilde looked at her and nodded.  
  
"Listen...I like...this man but he doesn't seem to notice me. What should I do?"  
  
The Nord smiled and whispered, "Look, if you really like Kai, just tell him how you feel. I'm sure he feels the same way about you as well, Just be honest."  
  
Sugar Lips sighed and put some food in her mouth.  
  
Arathor shook his head and sighed,  
  
"I'm not surprised Dren's after you, the amount of trouble you've caused him and the amount of slaves you've rescued. I mean come on, 50 in 1 year. Maybe you should just lay low for a while 'til it dies down a bit.  
  
Kai frowned.  
  
"I'll be fine, it's not like I'm going into the manor itself or anything. I can handle a few assassins. But I might be forced to pay Orvas a little visit if the attacks don't stop soon, there's only so much I can take."  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
An Argonian slave stood in the fields of the Dren plantation, tending to the crops. His name was Lemin and he'd been working at the plantation since he was 12. He was now 16 and he was sick of it.  
  
He didn't mind the work. In fact he quite enjoyed farming but it was the way he was treated that bothered him. They didn't have any respect for the slaves and always treated him like a pile of crap.  
  
He stopped to get a breather for a second and felt a whip crack along his back. He'd learned long ago not to yelp as it just resulted in another lashing so instead he gritted his teeth and kept working.  
  
He was born in Cyrodiil and had never set foot in the Black Marsh so he wasn't used to the heat either. His parents had fled to Mournhold when he was 2 to get away from a slaver who was trying to catch them. At the time they were unaware of the racism towards their kind in Morrowind. Ten years later they were murdered by a Cammona Tong assassin whilst they walked through the great bazaar and Lemin was sent to the Dren Plantation to work.  
  
The Argonian farmer looked at his tormentor, a very large Dunmer dressed in full steel armour, a huge whip clasped in his right hand, on his leg was a scabbard holding an ebony longsword. Sharpened so that one swipe could rip anyone in half. He didn't look like someone to mess with.  
  
As soon as night fell and he was heading back towards the slave quarters in an organised line he stepped aside and hid behind a tree. After a minute or two and he was sure the coast was clear he stepped back out and ran full pelt through the forest toward the home of the friendly farmer, Sterdecan who quite often helped slaves escape from the plantation.  
  
But before he got even halfway there a voice called out to him in the night.  
  
The argonian turned around and felt his heart skip a beat when he realised that it was Kalo, a high ranked member of the Cammona Tong who particularly liked to torment the Argonian slaves.  
  
He was missing his right eye, but that didn't seem to affect his fighting skills, as he was known as one of the fastest members of the Cammona Tong.  
  
The Dunmer drew his ebony shortsword and ran toward the Argonian. Lemin stepped to one side and the blade missed him by an inch.  
  
"I can just tell the boss that when I found you a kagouti was eating your insides. Now, prepare to die reptile!"  
  
The slave ran away as fast as his legs could carry him.  
  
'Shit. I can't head toward the farm now or Kalo'll find out where he lives! If only I can reach Vivec the ordinators'll protect me.' He thought just as a throwing knife flew past his ear.  
  
He darted through the trees attempting to lose his pursuer but he always seemed to be two steps ahead of the Argonian.  
  
After running for what seemed like hours but in actuality was probably just a matter of minutes he came to a cliff which he promptly jumped over, dropping a rock as he went making a huge splash whilst he grabbed hold of a tree branch.  
  
Kalo ran to the edge and stopped.  
  
'If I don't catch that slave Orvas'll kill me. But if I jump into that water it may kill me...'  
  
The Dunmer dived over the cliff, not knowing that the Argonian wasn't in the water.  
  
Lemin watched as his pursuer fell past him screaming and landed on a pile of rocks, dying instantly before being carried away by the current and thrown over a waterfall.  
  
The argonian shook his head.  
  
'Such a waste of an ebony weapon'  
  
He smiled and began to climb back up the cliff-edge.  
  
Next chapter will be added soon. Please review. 


	3. Flashback

Introduction:  
  
I thought I'd post my characters stats and everything (Hey, I'm bored)  
  
Kai the Male Khajjit Crusader (Custom class). Specialty: Combat Favourite attributes: Strength and Intelligence Major Skills:  
  
Long sword Medium Armour Illusion Security Sneak  
  
Minor Skills:  
  
Destruction Hand to Hand Acrobatics Athletics Speechcraft  
  
Birthsign: The Lady  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Morndas the 19th of First Seed 3E 299 3.32 PM  
  
Orvas Dren sat at his desk writing when he heard a knock at the door causing him to knock over the inkwell and ruin the letter.  
  
"Fuck!"  
  
The door opened and a male Dunmer entered the room, his longish black hair hung over his face, he wore no shirt showing off his muscled chest, he was wearing very expensive greaves, boots and shield and at his belt was a Daedric Katana.  
  
"What is it Galos?" Asked Orvas in an angry voice.  
  
The Dunmer stared at his boss,  
  
'Shit. He's in a bad mood again. Great timing Galos.'  
  
"Err well...one of our slaves has escaped. His number was 389."  
  
Orvas looked at the Dunmer standing before him.  
  
"Things have not been going well recently. We can't afford to lose any more slaves. Send in Kalo. I need to see him."  
  
Kalo had always been treated well by his leader because he was ruthless and some people said he was as strong as Orvas himself.  
  
Galos looked at the floor.  
  
"Well...the argonian...killed him!"  
  
Orvas leapt to his feet; despite being a couple of inches shorter than Galos he still scared him.  
  
"Catch the reptile! I want to...talk to him. He must be very strong in order to have killed Kalo."  
  
He caught the look on the Dunmer's face.  
  
"Err...this happened a few days ago."  
  
Orvas drew his own Daedric longsword and wrapped it around Galos' neck.  
  
"Why wasn't I informed of this earlier then?"  
  
He tightened his grip slightly causing a drop of blood to leak out of the Dunmer's neck.  
  
Galos winced in pain and whimpered,  
  
"...I'm not in charge of the slaves. Ask Lato."  
  
Orvas lifted his sword away from the Dunmer's throat and waved him out of the room.  
  
As soon as Galos had disappeared from view the Camonna Tong leader sat on his bed with his head in his hands.  
  
'Why does everything bad happen to me?'  
  
*Everything does seems to be going wrong, doesn't it Dren? It's almost as if you're...cursed.*  
  
Orvas looked up, an angry look on his face.  
  
"...PISS OFF!"  
  
He felt a sharp pain in his head and he fell to the floor screaming in pain.  
  
*You dare talk to me like that?*  
  
A tear rolled down Orvas' cheek as he lay on the floor clutching his head in pain.  
  
The door burst open and Ranes Lenith ran into the room,  
  
"Are you okay? I heard screaming."  
  
His eyes widened when he saw his boss crying on the floor and he quietly walked backwards and closed the door gently.  
  
'Better not disturb him while he's crying; I don't want to lose my head or something. Better keep this a secret.'  
  
Orvas stood up, red rings around his eyes almost thankful for the interruption, which temporarily chased away his tormentor.  
  
He sat on a chair thinking about the day when he met that...demon.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
1 year earlier  
  
Orvas was exploring a hidden cave with two bodyguards; he had dispatched a few mad, club wielding Dunmer with ease and was hoping to maybe find some nice valuable artifacts. That was when he spotted them, a nice shiny pair of Daedric greaves. Without a second thought he bent down and lifted them from the pedestal.  
  
After placing them in his pack he heard a scream from behind him as his bodyguards both died instantly.  
  
Orvas shrugged,  
  
'Probably just some trap protecting this treasure.'  
  
When he reached the exit to the cave a fist came out of nowhere and punched him in the side of the head, breaking his jaw.  
  
As he lay on the ground he saw a tall creature standing above him, it was the colour of a Dunmer but its face was strange. It looked as if it's been modified by magic.  
  
"You are the one they call Orvas Dren? I am Dagoth Unre, a follower of the great house Dagoth. You are in control of the Camonna Tong, are you not?"  
  
As hard as he tried Orvas couldn't lie to him so he nodded his head, trying to ignore the pain in his jaw.  
  
The creature reached out and slashed Orvas' face cutting it open and causing blood to drip down his cheek.  
  
Orvas screamed. As tough as he tried to act he actually hated pain and preferred to pick on people smaller and weaker than him. The monster clasped his hand over the Dunmer's mouth to silence him. That was the last thing Orvas saw before he slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
When he awoke he was lying in his bed; a new scar formed on his cheek which allowed the Dagoth to communicate with him at will.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
Orvas glanced across at the Daedric greaves that rested on his shelf.  
  
"And now he tells me to kill this stupid pointless Bosmer who's going to arrive in Seyda Neen later this year?"  
  
Meanwhile  
  
"So you want to join the thieves' guild?"  
  
Sugar Lips Habasi looked at the scrawny, young Argonian who stood before her in dirty looking rags which looked at least 4 sizes too big for him.  
  
"What did you say your name was again?"  
  
"Lemin." I just escaped from slavery and wanted to get revenge against Orvas Dren and the Camonna Tong. I heard you guys were their enemies?"  
  
The khajjit stared at him,  
  
"You heard correctly...very well. You're now a toad."  
  
The argonian frowned,  
  
'Was that a racist joke?' He thought but decided not to say anything.  
  
Kai sat at the bar in Dirty Muriel's cornerclub in Sadrith Mora talking to an Altmer thief who was second in rank only to their leader.  
  
"Hey Helende, lately I've been having some trouble with the Camonna Tong. Do you know anyone who could train me? 'Cos I'm planning on emptying the Balmora council club.  
  
The Altmer thought about it for a second before replying,  
  
"You could ask the boss if he can help you."  
  
"Gentleman Jim Stacey? Isn't he currently in hiding?" Asked Kai.  
  
Helende nodded and handed the Khajjit a key.  
  
"He's in the back of the rare bookshop in the foreign quarter underworks behind a locked door, this key should open it. But I must say, I think it's a very bad idea to attack the Camonna Tong head on, you could be killed."  
  
Kai nodded his thanks and turned to leave, ignoring Helende's warning before stepping out into the Telvanni city.  
  
Sorry that chapter was a bit short and isn't exactly the best I've ever written but I'm ill so I've got an excuse. Next chapter should be up quite soon since I've got to stay in with nothing to do. 


End file.
